"Slapper--the Linux worm that threatened to spread itself by
creating a peer-to-peer network of infected machines--appears to be
wearing itself out.
"The worm started spreading a week ago, and now appears to have
reached a plateau after infecting about 7,000 servers and turning
the hosts into a peer-to-peer network that could be used to attack
other computers.
"Known as Linux.Slapper.Worm, Slapper and Apache/mod_ssl, the
worm's spread has fallen far short of the biggest attackers in
recent times. For example, Code Red infected 400,000 servers last
summer. And according to the National Strategy to Secure
Cyberspace, the Nimda virus compromised 86,000 systems last
fall.
"Perhaps most telling, security experts are already talking
about Slapper in the past tense..."
